The Smiley Smile Message Board

Crazy, I know.  I've never gotten into the Beatles.  In fact, I don't think I could list more than 3 of their songs.  Now that their catalog is is on Spotify, now may be the time to acquaint myself with band I've heard so much about.  So I have a request for any Beatles evangelist who'd like to bite.  I'd like a playlist, 10-12 songs that would introduce the band to somebody who has never heard them.  Mind you, I don't want the kind of playlist that obligatorily covers all of their eras.  It drives me nuts when people do that with the Beach Boys and include songs like Lady Lynda or Johnny Carson in an "essential" BB playlist.  Remember, you're putting out samples to entice me, not turn me off to the band.:)

Unlike The Beach Boys, The Beatles catalog only covers about nine years, as opposed to 50+, so I here's a short playlist that I think highlights the best of the different aspects of The Fab Four:

1.  Please Please Me - an early single.  Catchy, well sung, well played.

2.  There's a Place - This is John Lennon's "In My Room"

3.  If I Fell - A great Lennon ballad

4.  All My Loving - As a Beatle, McCartney was rarely less than brilliant

5.  And I Love Her - A beautiful McCartney ballad

6.  Help! - Mature lyrics from John hidden within a great rock song

7.  Nowhere Man - Another great John song, with really good harmonies

8.  And Your Bird Can Sing - Speaking of harmonies.  A great guitar riff too.  Brief but brilliant

9.  For No One - A heartbreaking Paul ballad about lost love

10.  Strawberry Fields Forever - Arguably Lennon's finest

11.  A Day in the Life - See #10

12.  While My Guitar Gently Weeps - George Harrison shows he's more than just the quiet one.  Eric Clapton guests on guitar

13.  Two of Us - John and Paul harmonize over a great road song

14.  Something - Frank Sinatra called this George song the greatest love song ever

15.  Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End - Three separate tracks, but they work best as one piece.  A perfect end to a brilliant career.

16.  Real Love - In 1994, George, Paul, and Ringo played over a Lennon demo, got Jeff Lynne to produce it, and it was like going 25 years into the past. 

That's a short list.  Happy hunting.  If you ask me, you really can't go wrong with anything Beatles, except for maybe a couple weaker tracks off The White Album. 

You could purchase The Beatles' CD "1" from Amazon for $16.95. It has 27 songs ranging from 1962's "Love Me Do" to 1970's "The Long And Winding Road". In my opinion, it's hard to beat as a sampler for a newbie.

I think the list above is a really good start, but I would add Nowhere Man.

Oh. Oops. Retraction.

I'll be purchasing nothing, thank you very much (I've got Spotify Premium), but I appreciate the suggestion. I also appreciate KDS's list. Can't wait to get acquainted with these boys!

  Gosh, where to begin....

 1) Mr Moonlight
 2) Do You Want to Know a Secret?
 3) How Do You Do It?
 4) A Taste of Honey
 5) What Goes On
 6) Mr Kite
 7) Revolution 9
 8) You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

  A great start for anyone getting into The Beatles. >:D

01. Little Child
02. Mr Moonlight
03. You Like Me Too Much
04. Run for Your Life
05. Doctor Robert
06. Yellow Submarine
07. Good Morning, Good Morning
08. Wild Honey Pie
09. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
10. Don't Pass Me By
11. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
12. Octopus's Garden
13. The Long and Winding Road


It's all uphill from here.
Well, most of it, anyway.

Suggestion for bonnevillemariner: stick with kds' list!  :thewilsons

Revolver

Easy. The newly remastered "1" album.

(http://strosechronicle.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/The-Beatles-1.jpg)

Happy listening!!

Are those 3 songs by any chance I Should Have Known Better, Tell Me Why and You've Got to Hide Your Love Away?

Hey Jude album. But you don't want albums.




I'll try omit the obvious hits (and fail). Like I said I'll try.... I'll try, try and focus on the stuff ,the stuff that really caught my ear when I first started purchasing their UK their albums.

Back In The USSR - If I would've been old enough to drive I would've totally pulled over to the shoulder and had a Bri/Wink Martedale/Ronettes emergency. An A B.W.R.E. shoulder incident. Blew my mind. Actually it was like having my mind revamped in a way.

The Night Before

You Won't See Me

Think For Yourself

Rocky Raccoon - I like varispeed piano. you got a problem with that.


Let It Be (album mix) - The guitar solo rocks. The only downside is the clumsy-sounding tape delayed hi-hats in the second verse, and the additional edited in refrain near the end. I love the way too loud horns even though they're too loud, and the dark, funereal sound of McCartney's piano in the intro.

Rock and roll music - Chuck Berry cover.

You've Really Got a Hold On Me - Great Miracles' cover.

Hello Goodbye - so much music. Paul's lyrically profound.  and profoundly dumb , in this foot-stomper, like All you need is love , 'cept better.

Those are great choices too. 

Everytime I listen to the Help album, I'm still baffled as to why The Night Before didn't become a hit. 

But then you remember, it's The Beatles, and their deep cuts would be greatest hits for many other artists. 

Thanks, everybody.  I recreated KDS's suggested playlist and added a few more based upon the other suggestions here.  I'm playing it for my class while my students take a practice exam.  Good stuff.  I'll be honest-- other than the track or two I've heard on oldies stations, this is my first real listen to any Beatles music.  Can you imagine yourself today just discovering the Beach Boys?  Nothing tops the boys in my book.  Nothing.  But here's to hoping the Beatles have a deep enough catalog to keep me busy for a good long while!

One thing about the Beatles (and I do not mean in contrast to the BBs) is that though you just have 6-7 years worth of stuff, they really only have a couple of clunkers. before digital and remote controls, I would only get up to skip maybe 3 songs in the whole catalog. Even with playlists, I include at least 90%. If you get into it, you have a lot of good material.

Revolution #9
Only a Northern Song
Dig a Pony
Don't Pass Me By
Sun King
Dig It
Wild Honey Pie
Flying
Maggie Mae
Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand

I really only got into The Beach Boys four years ago, so I can relate.  Before 2012, I had a couple of compilations and Pet Sounds.  But, as I dug deeper, I found some of the treasures in their catalog, and some not so much. 

The best thing about The Beatles catalog IMO is that, since it only spans 1962-1970, there are very few weaknesses across the catalog.  Granted, I think a few songs from The White Album are pure filler.  But, with the possible exception of the Yellow Submarine OST, they have no mediocre albums. 

Love the haters' lists

so funny

HAW HAW HAW

I think it's funny that some of the songs on the "haters' list" are still really good songs. 

shhhhh... tell me where it hurts

The funny thing here is people posting lists of songs that are supposed to be the worst of the Beatles, but I even like those songs! Okay, Mr. Moonlight is worth a listen if only for the opening by John; What Goes On is a pretty weak late-in-the-game nod towards rockabilly; and I'm not a big fan of Don't Pass Me By, but I don't hate it. I only need to year You Know My Name once every couple years.  And then there are those filler tracks - Wild Honey Pie, Maggie Mae, Dig It, Why Don't We Do it in the Road....why bother? But Only a Northern Song on a worst of the Beatles list? Dig a Pony? Really?

I can get into 6 of these even.

I agree with just about everything you say here. One addition: the so-called songs like Wild Honey Pie and Why Don't We Do It in the Road, I see not as much as filler put as little bits that are crucial to the tone of The White Album. Of course, out of context, a song like Wild Honey Pie isn't anything. But I still think it's pretty crucial to the whole feel of the LP.

I quite like "Why Don't We Do It in the Road."

I'm a big fan of Only a Northern Song and Dig a Pony. 

I also don't understand the hate for Mr. Moonlight.  That song always seems to top lists of worst Beatles songs.  I love the arrangement with the organ, and Lennon's vocals. 

To me, the vocals sound discordant and, while I love John Lennon's voice usually, this is a croony song and he's not a crooner.

I've always thought Mr Moonlight was the best cover on Beatles For Sale, far and away. When I was getting into the Beatles, it was a favorite. I started discovering their full albums at a very early age, so I didn't know how much hatred for it there was until later when I became internet-saavy. It's a good song, good harmonies, good vocal, interestingly arranged.

Beatles For Sale is a very underrated Beatles album.  John was starting to get away from the traditional boy/girl songs he was writing.  No Reply, I'm a Loser, and Baby's in Black are great songs. 

As for the covers, in addition to Mr. Moonlight, Rock and Roll Music and Honey Don't are also great.  Although I prefer the versions of Honey Don't with John on vox from the BBC Sessions. 

But that "Rock on, George, for Ringo" bit is so iconic!

I normally don't rate Beatles for Sale as high as some of the others but it sure if full of great songs. Also love Every Little Thing - great melody on that one.

I think Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison were also fans of Every Little Thing.  Compare the chorus of Every Little Thing with Roy's You Got It. 

The Beatles IMO are one of the only bands in existence where I think you can make a legit argument for any of their albums as their best (with the obvious exception of the Yellow Submarine OST). 

Never thought of that before. Nice catch.

I agree. That is an album that I can't hear just one song from; if you play me Back In the USSR, I will hear Dear Prudence in my head when it finishes...and so on. I even enjoy Revolution 9.